An Extreme Love
by enigma77
Summary: When Maria is unsure of whether or not Jeff will make it through a life threatening injury, how will she be able to cope?


**A/N: I wrote this a while ago, but I was upset that Maria was released so I figured I'd post this now. And Jeff's still away from WWE and that makes me sad, too. It's my first Jeria fic so bear with me, people. Anyway, I hope you read it, enjoy it, and maybe review it. :)**

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An Extreme Love

For Maria, it appeared to be an ordinary day. She was hanging out at the mall, buying some new clothes for her upcoming appearance on SmackDown. Looking at some jewelry, she was surprised to hear her cell phone ring. When she looked at the caller ID, she saw the name Matt Hardy.

Answering her phone, she heard frantic voices in the background. "Matt, what's going on?" she asked.

"Maria, it's Jeff." Matt sounded afraid. "He…he got into an accident. A-a motocross accident."

Maria's face went blank. "Is he okay?" All she could think about was if Jeff would make it.

Matt swallowed loudly. "I don't know yet. He's getting taken to the hospital. The crash… it was pretty bad." After a brief pause, Matt said, "Ria, you better get to the hospital and fast."

Maria was now holding back tears. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming now." She ended the phone call and raced out of the mall. She got in her car and speeded down the road, desperate to get to the hospital.

Upon arrival, Matt was waiting by the doors. When Maria saw him, she ran right into his arms. He embraced her with a hug.

"Let's go inside. You wanna see him?" Maria nodded. "All right, let's go."

Matt held her hand as she walked down the hall. When they were in front of one of the rooms, Matt came to a halt, causing Maria to do the same.

They slowly walked through the doorway, and Maria gasped at what she saw.

She didn't think she'd ever see this day. Her love, her one and only, was lying in a hospital bed, unresponsive. His leg was in a cast and, bandages were on his head.

Maria couldn't stay in his room any longer. She couldn't stare at his face that showed no emotion. This wasn't the Jeff she knew.

She was sitting in the waiting room, resting her head on Matt's shoulder. All around her were Jeff's friends and family. His father, sitting on the other side of Matt, had lost his wife years earlier; he didn't want to lose someone else who meant the world to him. Fellow wrestlers, Shane Helms and Shannon Moore sat across from Maria, fearing the worst.

"Ria, I think you should go see him." Matt's face was sullen. He was just as terrified as Maria. That was his little brother in there. "If he wakes up any time soon, he'd rather see you than us."

She only nodded, picking up her iPod, the only thing she couldn't leave in the room. She stiffly walked down the hall.

When she went in his room, she almost began bawling again. Nothing had changed. Same expressionless face, same motionless arms and legs. Maria couldn't take it anymore. She sank to the chair beside Jeff's bed. Her gaze wandered up to the ceiling.

"Why?" she cried. "Why him? What has he ever done to anyone to deserve this? What have he done? Everyone has a past. He's overcome that! Why?" Her voice was shaky as were her hands as she reached for the green iPod that had fallen to the floor. She scanned through the artists until she found the one she wanted: Pearl Jam. It was Jeff's favorite band. When Maria and he began dating, he got her into them, too. They were definitely in her top five bands, just because of him. She clicked on the album, "Ten", one that Jeff loved.

The volume increased and Maria lost herself in the music. She banged her head when "Evenflow" came on. She sang along with Eddie Vedder's near incomprehensible vocals. Her voice got louder and her eyes closed. She sang and sang as if she would never be able to ever again. If Jeff was gone, Maria wouldn't want to sing anymore. She wouldn't want to do anything. Life would lose all meaning.

So she belted out each tune and felt the music piercing through her heart and her soul.

She always loved music, but now she was really getting into it. Every song she heard, she could relate to her relationship with Jeff. She found hidden meanings in every lyric.

Time went quickly. The music stopped. Maria looked at the iPod. The album was over. She looked through the other artists, but she couldn't find something that touched her as much as the Pearl Jam album did. She sighed and turned it off. When she looked up, a beautiful pair of green eyes were staring back at her.

An inaudible gasp escaped Maria's lips. She couldn't believe what she was seeing yet she knew it was real. "Jeff!" Her smile was as bright as the sun at that moment.

"Hey, Ria, honey," Jeff said in a sleepy voice.

Without thinking, Maria hugged him tightly. Jeff let out a soft cry of pain. She quickly let go and apologized. "Oops. I'm sorry." She still couldn't believe he was awake.

"Don't worry 'bout it. I'm fine," he consoled her.

Again, she reached over and hugged him, more gingerly this time so not to hurt him. "Oh, my gosh. Jeff, are you okay? I mean, I was so worried. When Matt told me, I was just beside myself…" Maria's voice trailed off.

Jeff had a lazy smile on his face. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good." He chuckled as he looked in her eyes. "I enjoy waking up to an angel rockin' out."

Maria's cheeks turned crimson from her embarrassment. She let out a nervous laugh. "Heh. Y-you saw that, huh?" Maria felt beyond humiliated. She didn't really like people seeing her head bang, even if that person was Jeff.

"I'm not makin' fun of you." He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears. "I thought you looked beautiful."

Wanting to take the attention away from herself, Maria again asked, "Are you sure you're okay? Nothing hurts?"

"Nope. Not at this moment." He wiggled his fingers. "Everything seems fine to me. Well, except for the fact that I got a broken leg but whatever. I got you here with me, Ria. That always makes me feel good."

Maria laughed at the last thing he said. "That's so cheesy, Jeff."

"Yeah, it was." He looked thoughtful. "But it was the truth."

Hugging Jeff one more time, Maria buried her face into his rainbow hair. "Oh, Jeff," she whispered. "I really thought I was going to lose you."

"It's okay," Jeff soothed. "I'm right here."

Right as they let go of each other, a doctor snuck his head in the room. "Hey, I thought I heard you talking in here." He walked over to the bed that Jeff was in. "Everything okay then? Feeling better?"

"Oh, yeah, totally, doc," Jeff answered. "Never felt better." As he said this, he clutched Maria's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Well, Mr. Hardy," the doctor said, looking at a chart, "I'm afraid you'll have to stay here for a few more days, but after that, you'll be good to go." He smiled kindly at Maria, and then looked back at Jeff. "Your friends and family, I'm sure, are going to be so happy you're awake. Would you like me to bring them in?"

"Yeah, I'd really like that."

The doctor nodded and went out of the room. Within a few minutes, Matt, Shane, Shannon, and Jeff's dad were filing into the room. The guys all surrounded Jeff, and Matt stood right next to Maria.

He grabbed Jeff's hand. "Hey, little bro. How ya feeling?"

"I've been asked this question twenty times it the last five minutes, man." Jeff sighed. "I am fine."

Matt laughed, something he thought he wouldn't be able to do for some time. "Glad to hear that."

"Hey, Jeff," Shane said. "This'll be one good thing to tweet about, huh?"

"Oh, none of you have yet?" They all shook their heads. "I figured y'all would be all over Twitter. Especially you, Matt. You never get off that thing."

"There were more important things happening," Jeff's dad answered for Matt. "We were all worried sick over you."

"Yeah, well, there's no need to be worrying now. All is well with Jeff Hardy."

"Good, good," Shannon said. "Now, we can continue with The Hardy Show." He walked over to Jeff. "No, seriously, glad you're doin' better."

Maria smiled. "Now, I just wish we could get Jeff outta this place."

A week later, Maria's wishes came true. Jeff was finally free to leave the hospital. He still, however, had to not only keep the cast but also be stuck in a wheelchair. The wheelchair, he complained, was the worst part.

"I'm a professional wrestler," he said on the way home. "I'm tough. I can take these things. Stupid doctor putting me in a stupid wheelchair."

"Honey, you have a broken leg," Maria said in response. "How exactly do you think you're going to get around places? You can't walk with that big cast on your leg."

"You're not helping, Maria," Jeff grumbled. "Aren't you supposed to be on my side? Do you want me in a wheelchair?"

"Jeff, I _am_ on your side. That's why I'm telling you that you need to be in the wheelchair. You wanna get hurt again?"

Jeff mumbled something that Maria couldn't understand and kept quiet for the rest of the ride home. Maria couldn't take the silence and turned on the radio for the remaining minutes they would be in the car. She couldn't find anything she liked so she had to turn it off.

When they arrived at the house, Jeff made a quick observation. "Why is Matt's car here? Do you know something and not tellin' me it?"

Maria couldn't contain her smile. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. There's something going on, and I don't think I like it one tiny bit," Jeff said, agitated.

Maria got out of the car and helped Jeff out. He unwillingly got sat in the wheelchair, and then wheeled away towards the door. While Jeff was away, Matt had made a ramp so he could get inside his home. Matt knew Jeff wouldn't be able to walk on his own for quite some time.

Maria walked ahead of Jeff and when they got to the door, she opened it for him. With a huge grin on her face, she led him into the living room. Jeff noticed that it was too quiet, considering he knew that Matt was there. They walked just a little further, and Jeff was most definitely surprised at what he saw.

Hanging on the wall was a big sign that read, _Welcome Home, Jeff_. It was painted in all different colors: red, blue, orange, green. There was confetti being thrown into the air by Matt and his dad. Somebody, who must have been lacking in the smarts department, had given Shane and Shannon kazoos, and they played a terrible song with them. But it was all in good fun. They guys were all just happy to have Jeff home.

Jeff didn't seem to mind, either. He was laughing along with Maria, who grabbed some confetti and threw it at Jeff's head. They were all in good spirits and glad to be around each other.

There was never a place filled with so much love. The joy of having the whole gang together made all of them delighted.

After staying until late into the night, all the guys said they needed to get back to their own houses. Jeff and Maria would finally get some time alone together.

As she drank a can of Coke, Maria sat next to Jeff on the couch. He had been worn out from the celebrating and was getting tired. He looked at Maria with the most loving expression.

"Ria, did you plan this whole party?" he asked. "'Cause if you did, I just wanna thank you. It was fun. I really needed it."

"Well, it was my idea. I just got Matt to do the dirty work." Maria shrugged and took a sip of her drink. "Matt's is kinda like my little assistant. Okay, maybe not little 'cause he's taller than me, but you get the point."

"Mm-hmm. Matt's great in that aspect, isn't he? You want him to do something, he doing it the next minute." Jeff shook his head. "Always in the big brother role."

"He comes in handy most of the time though, doesn't he? Good to have around at, like, all times."

Jeff grabbed her hand. "Yeah, well, you're not the only person whose dirty work Matt does. I forced him to buy me something for you."

"Jeff? What are you talking about?" Maria was, to say the least, confused. "I… don't think I understand."

"Ria, there's been something I've been meaning to ask you for a long time." Jeff took a deep breath. He looked into Maria's confused green eyes. "Maria, you have no idea how much I love you.'

"Jeff…" Maria was about to say something. She still wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but she definitely had a good idea.

"Shh. I really need to do this. I wanted to do this the traditional way, the getting down on one knee and everything, but I can't so…" Jeff reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small box, one that was only ever used to hold rings. Looking back into Maria's eyes, Jeff said in a confident tone, "Maria, I will love you forever, everyday of forever. Will you marry me?"

He opened the satin covered box and inside was a diamond ring. The diamond was a modest size, not too big, not too small. There were tiny gems all around the diamond in the center. The way they looked on the slender, silver band took Maria's breath away.

Switching her focus from the ring to Jeff. She hadn't realized it before but tears were stinging her eyes. She tried to blink the tears back, but then decided to just let them fall.

Through the tears, she was able to give Jeff her answer. "Oh, Jeff. Nothing could make me happier." She nodded her head up and down multiple times. "Yes, yes. Of course, I'll marry you!"

Jeff took the ring out of the box and put it on Maria's left ring finger. He held out her hand and they both inspected it.

Maria sighed. "I know it feels right." She looked up at Jeff. "Do you think it looks right?"

"Oh, yeah. Nothin' has ever looked more perfect," answered Jeff. He leaned over and kissed Maria.

"Yeah, I thought so, too." Maria rested her head on Jeff's shoulder. She looked down at the ring. She knew that it would be there for the rest of her life and she wouldn't have it any other way. She was content and felt that if this was how the rest of her life would be—and that's what she planned on—then she would be the happiest woman in the world.

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**So...what did you think? Seriously, I'm curious. Hopefully, I did this couple justice. :)**


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